A/N: Cam is a fanon version of his tv self and I shall be writing him as so if I choose to post more of my stories here. I started posting Modern Family fics on Ao3 as Kowalskiology101. This story takes place pre-series.

"I messed up badly. I know I did! I'm sorry, I'd do anything to fix it!" He called as the door was closing. It stopped, cracked slightly. "Mitchell, I'm sorry...please, please talk to me. I pushed you too far, you weren't ready to talk and I thought maybe Jay would-I don't know...it was dumb and I'm sorry." Cam sighed as the door closed. He headed out of the apartment complex as the rain grew heavier.

He hurried to his car, looking back to see Mitch standing at the window. Cam groaned and smacked his forehead onto the steering wheel. Then he attempted to start the car. The engine jumped to life, then sputtered out.

"What? No no no-this is the worst time ever!" Cam complained to no one. He pulled out his phone to call Mitch, but realized that might not be a great idea. So, he called Phil.

"What the hell did you say to my baby brother?!" Claire's voice snapped.

"I called Phil, right?" Cam asked, looking at his phone.

"Yeah, I told him to give it to me immediately. WHY did you force a meeting between him and our dad, huh? We told you to take it slow and you decide to try to rip off the band aid?"

"I'm sorry-"

"No. You don't get to be just sorry, okay? Not when Mitchell spent months hiding from dad after he came out to him. You know how many people he talked to? If you barely count our mother, two. He talked to me. The ONLY reason I didn't send out search parties was because we talked. We arranged for him to come over when our dad wasn't there. We basically hid him at our house. We knew he was safe with us. Then you came along and it took me forever, but I could see he was safe and happy with you. Why did you ruin a good thing?"

"Not the first time that's been asked..."

Claire sighed heavily. "If you really care, give him space. Goodbye."

"Wait, but my car won't start and I-and she's gone..." He knew he couldn't call her again. He got out, locked his car, and started walking in the rain, hands shoved in his pockets.

He felt his phone buzz, but didn't want to take it out. It was dark and the rain had gotten even heavier. He blinked through the water, trying not to slip in puddles. If he started crying now, could anyone tell? Oh, who was he kidding, he could feel the hot tears freezing as soon as they escaped his eyes

"You two need to talk it out-"

"I said all I needed to." Jay had snapped.

Mitch scoffed. "Said what? 'I need a scotch' then never rejoined the conversation as usual. You know, that's why I don't like these confrontational situations and it's partially your fault!"

"Is it my fault you're not normal?"

"Oh my g-" Mitch shook his head and put his hands up. "Y-you know what, no. I'm not doing this again. I'm-"

"Mitch, wait." Cam tried to diffuse the situation. "Jay, you're just having a difficult time adjusting-"

"He's had more than ten years!" Mitch huffed. "And you know it. I told you I didn't want to do this, but you dragged me out here under false pretenses-"

"No, I told you you needed to talk to your dad."

"I don't have a southern farm family, Cam. We don't kiss and make up, then shuck the pigs."

"You-um...shuck corn. You try to shuck a pig, it'll bite ya."

"I don't shucking care! I'm leaving."

But-aw, Jay!" Cam turned, but Jay had gone back to the bar and had his back turned. "Jay? Oh come on, Jay, he's your son!"

"Am I?" Mitch asked before exiting, slamming the door behind him.

"You're his ride." Jay grunted.

"That's when you chime in?" Cam shook his head.

"Get out of my house. And that's me asking nicely."

Cam sighed in defeat and went to the car. Mitch stared out the window. Cam started the car.

"Take me back home."

"Mitchell, I'm sorry-"

"No. No talking. Just take me home."

"Can we talk about it?"

"You forced me into something I wasn't ready for, despite you telling me you wouldn't do that. You crossed the line. There, we talked about it."

"Mi-"

"Stop. The damage is done."

Cam was silent for the rest of the ride, the guilty feelings gathered like the storm clouds above. Mitchell practically threw himself out of the car once Cam stopped. He sped to his apartment.

Cam never felt worse. He wanted to try one more time.

And now here he was, wading through puddles as he attempted to make his way back to his own apartment. His phone stopped buzzing. He took it out and it slipped his fingers-

SPLASH

"No! No, come on!" Cam picked it up and shoved it back in his soaked jeans pocket. Of all the days to wear jeans and have your car break down on you. He shivered. "Damn...guess this is what I deserve. Ok, I get it!" he shouted, looking up. He quickly put his head back down, fruitlessly wiping the water from his eyes. "Agh...bad idea...well, guess you're just full of bad ideas, Cameron. Anything else to throw at me?" He loudly asked no one.

"Cameron!"

Cam jumped and turned around. Mitchell was standing there with an umbrella, wearing bright yellow rain boots.

"What happened with your car?" Mitchell asked, walking closer so he could hear Cam better.

I probably killed it along with our relationship and my phone. Cam had wanted to mutter, but the rain was pretty loud. He sneezed.

"You're going to get sick out here." Mitchell said, offering to share the umbrella.

"I deserve it." Cam said, waving him off. "I'll call a tow truck in the morning."

"Or you could wait until morning for Ms Stevens to wake up and borrow her jumper cables. It probably just needs a jump start."

"Oh...I guess I wouldn't mind sleeping in the car."

"Don't be stupid, you're not going to freeze in that car all night especially when you can't turn it on to get the heater running." Mitch was close to Cam, holding the umbrella above both of them. "I guess it's not great because you're already wet."

"I shouldn't have meddled." Cam said. "I've just been able to help people before and I thought I could-wait, how did you know about my car?"

"Watching and then Claire called me."

"I'm surprised she cared after that."

"She's a mom and she was warming up to you. She just gets hyper fixated on things and one of those things is defending me. I told her to let me decide for myself. Let me protect myself."

Cam nodded. The two of them walked back to the apartment. Mitch told him to take off his clothes and put on a robe while he looked to see if he'd have anything to fit Cam. He could only find a pair of slippers, a beanie, and gloves.

Mitch bumped up the heater; his clothes had gotten slightly damp so he decided to change and put those in too.

"Uh...I think your phone's broken." Mitch called. "I don't have anything to soak up the water."

"It's fine." Cam said.

"Be right back." Mitch took the clothes to the laundry room, leaving Cam at the kitchen table.

Cam looked around. It was a decent place. Mitch had gotten it a few years ago. He had a washer and dryer in the room, but the dryer was broken and maintenance was coming in a couple days, so he used his neighbor's.

Something caught his eye on the counter, a slight sparkle. He couldn't help but look over, it was a birthday card for Cam. He really shouldn't look-

"Don't you dare." Mitch called. "It's not even your birthday yet."

"I just was-"

"I haven't finished it." Mitch said. "Ok, I'll get a text when your clothes are dry. Do you want to try to see what fits you?"

"No, I'm okay." Cam sighed.

"Depriving yourself of a basic necessity isn't a fitting punishment." Mitch said.

"Just wallowing in self pity, I guess." Cam said, sitting back down. The robe slid off the side of his leg and he hurriedly covered himself back up. "Sorry."

"Well, we're not at that base yet and it's not like you were trying." Mitch laughed. "And it's not like I wasn't-" He cleared his throat. "I'll make tea. It'll be good for you and hopefully you won't get sick."

"Okay, just so I'm not misinterpreting the 'yet' and hoping I don't get sick, are you saying we're still together?"

"It would be awful of me to wish terrible things like sickness upon someone else." Mitch said, setting the filled kettle on the stove and lighting it.

"Even if they deserved it?"

"If you get sick, I have to avoid you."

"You wouldn't be opposed to kissing me again? When I'm not sick, I mean."

The pause was so long, Cam thought he overstepped again. Mitch was looking for teabags. He pulled out the box.

"Sor-"

"No."

Mitch put mugs with the teabags on the counter.

"I didn't mean to sound like I was trying to manipulate the situation." Cam blurted out.

"When Claire called me, she said she 'read you the riot act' as she put it." Mitch said. "And that you called Phil's phone like both of us predicted."

"Did you call her that fast after everything?"

"No, my dad did." Mitch sighed.

"If he didn't care-"

"He knew I'd tell her sooner or later, so he wanted it done sooner."

"Do you think it means anything?"

Mitch's brow rose. "Is it a farm thing or a you thing to try to look for hidden meanings?"

"I don't know...I guess I expected to be able to help you guys move through the feelings like we did with my dad. My mom and siblings were accepting pretty much right away, but it took my dad a few months."

Mitch let out a whistle, the kettle continuing it. "I wish it was that easy for me. I mean, my mom accepted it basically right away. Claire took a few months to process, Phil immediately understood why I rejected the lady he set me up with before I came out."

Cam laughed.

Mitch poured out the water and let the bags steep.

"Well, my family are city people, not farm folk." Mitch said. "And you have two straight brothers, so it's not like all hope is lost for your dad to have grandkids through them."

"I can still have a kid." Cam said. "And you could too. Adoption, surrogacy, donate-"

"Yeah, I know how it works." Mitch brought the mugs over, found sugar packets and spoons and sat across from Cam. He sighed and played with the string on the bag. "It's just that my dad wants a kid with the last name Pritchett and he always wanted me to be more of a man and now he sees me as less of a human-"

"That's not true." Cam shook his head, taking his gloves off so he could warm his hands with the cup. "If he didn't think of you as human, he wouldn't have let us in the house and he definitely wouldn't have felt bad enough to talk to Claire-"

"I'll accept the first thing, but talking to my sister sounds like it was out of obligation."

"Obligation to family?"

"Wow, you're really stuck on this."

"Maybe it's just a me thing." Cam admitted. He took out the bag, put it on a napkin, and poured in two packets of sugar. He stirred in silence, then looked at Mitch. he was surprised to see a small smile on the redhead's face. "What?"

"Do you always concentrate so hard while stirring?"

"Not usually." Cam wondered where this was going.

"I'm the one who usually tries to find a task to pretend to focus on when I'm nervous."

"Maybe it's a habit you've rubbed on me."

"Wording, Cameron." Mitch said, sipping his tea.

"Did you put any sugar in that?" Cam asked.

"One packet while you were focused on making sure no drops left the mug...despite the tea bag soaking through the fast food napkin."

Cam stammered. "I-I do you want me to-I'll clean it up."

Mitch shook his head. "I'm just messing with you."

"I knew that." Cam took a large gulp. He was unprepared for how hot it was. "Ooo, baby that burns..."

"You have had tea before, right?" Mitch asked, trying not to laugh.

"Hon, I've had tea, spilled tea, and been the tea." Cam said, trying to disguise how watery his eyes had become.

Mitch snorted. They finished the rest in silence. Mitch offered to put on a movie, but Cam shook his head.

"What happens now since you want me to stop apologizing?"

Mitch sighed. "I don't know...Claire reminded me that this is the first relationship that she's seen me this happy. I don't want to throw it away. You had the best of intentions, I know you did, but-" His phone chimed. "Laundry's ready."

Cam let his thoughts wander as Mitch went to get the laundry. He decided to keep busy and clean up the tea. He took the beanie off and left it on the coffee table. He was wiping the dining table down when Mitch returned.

"Aw, you didn't have to do that." Mitch said.

"I wanted to."

The redhead put his clothes away and folded Cam's, leaving them in the bathroom while he got ready for bed. Cam put on his underwear and took his shoes to the living room, placing them next to the couch and looked out the window.

"Yeesh...it's raining cats and dogs." He fluffed a pillow that Mitch had brought out. "Hey, Mitch, you got an extra blanket?"

No response.

"Um...Mitchell? You okay?" Cam hesitantly walked to the bedroom, it was open slightly. He hadn't heard a thump or any indication that Mitch had been injured. "I'm just going to check on you...you didn't fall asleep that fast, did you?"

Still nothing.

He opened the door to see Mitch sheepishly standing next to the bed in a fluffy pink robe.

"Uh...were you going to take a shower?" Cam asked. "I'll get dressed really fast-"

"Cam." Mitch took a deep breath. "Come here."

Cam's heart pounded. If you really care, give him space.

Cam stopped a couple feet away. "Are you alright?"

Mitch stepped closer, Cam's feet were rooted to the spot. It wasn't disrespecting Mitch's space if he was the one closing it, right? The redhead was visibly nervous.

"Mitchell, I-"

"I don't want to break up." Mitch blurted out. "Maybe it was just a test of our relationship and maybe we both passed. Maybe it was a sign that we can be...closer."

"Mitchell, are you asking what I think you're asking?" Cam asked softly.

"I don't know, something intimate, can we start with a kiss?"

"Do you want to just kiss or should I flirt a bit?"

"I like flirty."

"Your robe brings out the color in your eyes." Cam whispered, putting his arms around Mitch's back.

"I think yours does more." Mitch replied, kissing Cam, lacing his fingers in the brunette's damp hair. Cam kissed him back happily. A hand finding its way to Mitch's orange locks.

"Is wet hair sexy?" Cam asked breathlessly.

"Everything is." Mitch murmured. "No talking."

"Does that mean you forgive me?" Cam felt Mitch's slightly shaky, damp, hand open his robe.

"Underwear stays." Mitch said once he felt Cam's warm, sturdy, hand on his bare chest.

"Yeah."

"Yes, I forgive you. Just kiss me."